1 of 3
Remarks Prepared for Delivery ByChairman Michael G. OxleyHouse Financial Services CommitteeDuring US Department of Labor SAVER SummitMarch 2, 2006
Thank you so much for the invitation to speak at Saver Summit. It is fitting that we conduct an event suchas this, to emphasize to the public the importance of personal saving, financial planning, and retirementsecurity. Thank you to Ms. Combs for the introduction, and also to Secretary Chao for the invitation tospeak today.The best news for any saver or investor is that the American economy is strong and sound. There is nosubstitute for economic growth and prosperity, and we have consistently strong and stable markets acrossall of the various sectors of investments to help people make their money grow.General Economic OverviewRecent economic performance is such that the skeptics these days are fewer in numbers and muchquieter. It's impossible to refute the overwhelming evidence that our economy is firing on all cylinders.Some facts:
•
Our GDP expanded at a solid 3.5 percent pace last year;
•
More than 4.6 million new jobs have been created since May of 2003; two million of them in thelast year;
•
Unemployment is 4.7 percent, running lower than the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, payrolls are risingand household wealth is at an all-time high;
•
Productivity growth remains strong. Output per hour in the non-farm business sector has risen atan average annual rate of 3.2 percent since 2001, faster than any five-year period in the 1970s,1980s or 1990s;
•
More Americans than ever own their own homes;
•
Tax revenues are surging to the highest levels ever;
•
Inflation-adjusted hourly wages are beginning to rise, growing 1.6 percent between September andDecember;
•
The Dow Jones Industrials are touching all time highs and;
•
Our home values reflect underlying growth, low interest rates and confidence about futureeconomic prospects.It should be heartening to all of us to think how we got to this place amidst all the obstacles that stood inour way, including the end of the tech bubble, 9/11, fighting the continuing war against terrorism,numerous corporate bankruptcies, and the loss of investor confidence that drained trillions from ourmarket capitalization.Aside from the general stability and prosperity of our economy, the other tremendous feature of ourAmerican financial system is the emphasis on the individual, and I don’t know that this is adequatelyappreciated.We have an emphasis on owning our own homes: our national homeownership rate is at an all-time highof 69 percent. We have widely available mortgage credit with all kinds of fixed and adjustable rates, manywith minimal downpayments required.In the areas of securities, bonds, deposits, and insurance the American financial services industry providesa complete array of products and services and continues to innovate to meet the demands of consumersin a very competitive business. American consumers have everything available to them, from mutualfunds, to individual stock, to index funds and exchange traded funds. We can purchase CDs, moneymarket funds, and bank at credit unions or banks. We have a vigorous bond market and insuranceproducts to suit every need imaginable.
2 of 3
We have solid companies and generally robust regulators who provide important oversight andenforcement.Let’s remember that in many countries throughout the world, these same advantages do not exist. In vastportions of even advanced countries, homeownership rates are low and products designed for lower- ormiddle-class savers and investors are not widely available.The financial services industry prospers when it helps its clients to prosper. A strong U.S. economy helpsus all to make our money work for us.We also have tremendous advantages in the areas of information. We have lots of free financial literacyinformation available to us. During the five years I have been Chairman, I see that the financial literacymovement is continually gaining strength. Also, with the continual advances of technology, our systemsare becoming more and more transparent, they are becoming faster and more accurate all the time. Now,individual investors in many cases have the same access to real-time information as the pros, and that’s ahuge step forward.I only have time to talk about a few of the issues we are working on. As I was thinking about this talk, Irealize that just about everything we do in the Financial Services Committee helps savers and investors.Social Security ReformBefore I get into some other specific issues before our Committee, I have to take a moment to commendthe President for his efforts to reform the Social Security system. While we have not achieved the result of reform that we had hoped for, he gets a lot of points with me for raising and addressing one of our mostdifficult issues. The debate goes on, as it should, to secure a better retirement future for us all.Deposit InsuranceWe have just completed a major piece of legislation for savers, and that is the modernization of thedeposit insurance system.The President signed the legislation in the Oval Office on February. So, the Financial Services Committeeand the House completed five years of rolling that boulder up the hill!Deposit insurance reform has been a top priority of the Financial Services Committee and the House andour goals for the legislation were the same as when Federal deposit insurance first became law:to reassure Americans in the safety of their deposits and the banking system, and to protect taxpayersfrom being on the hook during times of economic crisis.This guarantee has in turn contributed to making our banking system the most advanced and efficient inthe world. And as we all know, safe and sound banks are an indispensable part of a healthy, vibranteconomy.One key provision I would hasten to point out to this audience is the increase in the deposit insurancelimit for certain retirement accounts to $250,000. The legislation also indexes that limit to inflation – acritical move that will encourage Americans to save for retirement.I commend the Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman from Alabama, Spencer Bachus, and thebipartisan coalition he brought together for their leadership in seeing that this reform measure becamelaw.Now, savers and depositors can be assured that the system has been modernized to meet the needs of the 21st Century financial services industry.
of 00
Department of Labor: 2006OxleySummit
38 Reads
Info and Rating
| Category: | Uncategorized. |
| Rating: | |
| Upload Date: | 01/26/2008 |
| Copyright: | Attribution Non-commercial |
| Tags: |
Leave a Comment